Judge Weaver allowed home

Superior Court Judge J. Richard Porter of Cairo ruled Friday that Weaver could return to his home while he awaits trial on an domestic aggravated assault charge.

Weaver, who is accused of hitting his wife with a beer bottle at a party in May, had been banned by Porter from living with his wife and children.

Albany police and medical personnel say that Vester Weaver told them that her husband assaulted her, causing a facial laceration that required six stitches at Palmyra Medical Center, during a party at Albany police Capt. Mack Green’s house.

Vester Weaver said in a press conference several weeks after the incident that her husband has never struck her. She refuses, however, to answer questions or explain why police and medical personnel claim that she told him she was a domestic violence victim.

Weaver, who works for the Albany City Commission, is released on $10,000 bond and is receiving a fully paid, $17,500, 90-day vacation at taxpayer expense as his criminal case proceeds. In a split vote, the Sylvester City Commission decided earlier this month to allow Weaver to continue serving that city as Municipal Court judge.

Weaver’s attorney, meanwhile, is asking the court to dismiss Weaver’s arrest warrant, and to reconsider the recusal of Dougherty County Superior Court Judges Willie Lockette, Steve Goss and Denise Marshall in the case.

About the author

Tom Knighton is the publisher of The Albany Journal. In November, 2011, he became the first blogger to take over a newspaper anywhere in the world. In August of 2012, he made the difficult decision to take the Journal out of print circulation and become an online news agency, a first for the Albany area.